Risk Factors for Falls and Fall-related Injuries Associated With Mild Neurocognitive Disorders

Risk Factors for Falls and Fall-related Injuries Associated With Mild Neurocognitive Disorders in the Older Canadian Population: A Population-based, Prospective, Longitudinal, Observational Cohort Study

This study evaluates the risk for incident falls and fall-related injuries at the onset of neurocognitive disorders in older adults participating in the Canadian Longitudinal Study

Falls are frequent events in adults over age 65 (up to 30% each year in Canada). They are a major Canadian public health concern, which negatively impacts health and quality of life of fallers, and health care system. Neurocognitive disorders are strongly associated with falls and fall-related injuries.

Several clinical characteristics, identified previously as risk factors for falls in the older population and in older adults with neurocognitive disorders are selected in the Canadian Longitudinal Study On Aging. The performance criteria of different statistical models will be compared for the association of neurocognitive disorders with falls and fall-related injuries. Six linear statistical models (i.e., logistic regression, discriminant analysis, Bayes network algorithm, decision tree, random forest, boosted trees), Factor Mixture Models and two different artificial neural network (i.e., multilayer perceptron and the neuroevolution of augmenting topologies).

Inclusion Criteria:

• People who are 65 years and over
• Men and women who live in Canada

Exclusion Criteria:

• People who do not live in Canada
• A fall resulting from acute medical event and/or an external factor
• Moderate to severe dementia